Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

The Helminthological Society Of Washington 2013 Anniversary Award: Larry S. Roberts, Sherman S. Hendrix

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Dr. Roberts was born in the great state of Texas, and much of his early life is murky, but snakes are often mentioned. Larry received his Bachelor’s degree at Southern Methodist University; his Master of Science at the University of Illinois; and his Doctorate in the Department of Pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Larry’s doctoral research, published in Experimental Parasitology, documented the early development and crowding effect of the tapeworm, Hymenolepis diminuta, in the rat small intestine. His publication on this subject opened the door to the golden age of cestode physiology and biochemistry …

Can Helmet Design Reduce The Risk Of Concussion In Football?, Steven Rowson, Stefan M. Duma, Richard M. Greenwald, Jonathan Beckwith, Jeffrey J. Chu, Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Jason P. Mihalik, Joe Crisco, Bethany J. Wilcox, Thomas W. Mcallister, Arthur C. Maerlender, Steven P. Broglio, Brock Schnebel, Scott Anderson, P. Gunnar Brolinson

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Of all sports, football accounts for the highest incidence of concussion in the US due to the large number of athletes participating and the nature of the sport. While there is general agreement that concussion incidence can be reduced through rule changes and teaching proper tackling technique, there remains debate as to whether helmet design may also reduce the incidence of concussion. A retrospective analysis was performed of head impact data collected from 1833 collegiate football players who were instrumented with helmet-mounted accelerometer arrays for games and practices. Data were collected between 2005 and 2010 from 8 collegiate football teams: …

Winning And Losing: Differences In Reward And Punishment Sensitivity Between Smokers And Nonsmokers, Laura E. Martin, Lisa S. Cox, William M. Brooks, Cary R. Savage

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Background: Smokers show increased brain activation in reward processing regions in response to smoking-related cues, yet few studies have examined secondary rewards not associated with smoking (i.e., money). Inconsistencies exist in the studies that do examine secondary rewards with some studies showing increased brain activation in reward processing brain regions, while others show decreased activation or no difference in activation between smokers and nonsmokers. Aims: The goal of the current study is to see if smokers process the evaluation and delivery of equally salient real world rewards similarly or differently than nonsmokers. Methods: The current study employed functional magnetic resonance …

Anesthesia For Ambulatory Surgery In A Child With Hyposensitivity To Pain, Claude Abdallah

Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Publications

Congenital hyposensitivity to pain is a condition with predisposition to injury. In patients with congenital hyposensitivity to pain/Hereditary sensory and autonomic neuropathy (HSAN), knowledge regarding anesthetic requirements and complications derives from individual case reports, or small case series. Different categories of HSAN have been described. Complications in the immediate perioperative period have been described such as mild hypothermia and cardiovascular events, mostly bradycardia and hypotension. The majority of patients with hyposensitivity to pain reported in the literature have received standard anesthesia for surgery. Immobilization, prevention of autonomic reflexes, anxiolysis, and sedation are equally important aspects of the anesthetic management in …

Considerations In Perioperative Assessment Of Valproic Acid Coagulopathy, Claude Abdallah

Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine Faculty Publications

Valproic acid (VPA) is one of the widely prescribed antiepileptic drugs in children with multiple indications. VPA-induced coagulopathy may occur and constitute a pharmacological and practical challenge affecting pre-operative evaluation and management of patients receiving VPA therapy. This review summarizes the different studies documenting the incidence, severity and available recommendations related to this adverse effect.

Current Research Of Extracorporeal Photopheresis And Future Applications, Chaim Lederer

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Photopheresis, also known as Extracorporeal Photopheresis (ECP) is making inroads in treatment of previously untreatable diseases. As the medical world has delved deeper into, Although the mechanisms of photopheresis are largely unknown, increasingly detailed studies have proven its efficacy. The lack of side effects has made photopheresis an ideal option for patients. The treatment is also versatile enough that it can be used as a mono-therapy or as a supplement to other traditional therapies. The use of photopheresis has been proven successful in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), and is currently being administered for …

Disposable Platform Provides Visual And Color-Based Point-Of-Care Anemia Self-Testing, Erika A. Tyburski, Scott E. Gillespie, William A. Stoy, Robert G. Mannino, Alexander J. Weiss, Alexa F. Siu, Rayford H. Bulloch, Karthik Thota, Anyela Cardenas, Wilena Session, Hanna J. Khoury, Siobhán O'Connor, Silvia T. Bunting, Jeanne Boudreaux, Craig R. Forest, Manila Gaddh, Traci Leong, L. Andrew Lyon, Wilbur A. Lam

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Anemia, or low blood hemoglobin (Hgb) levels, afflicts 2 billion people worldwide. Currently, Hgb levels are typically measured from blood samples using hematology analyzers, which are housed in hospitals, clinics, or commercial laboratories and require skilled technicians to operate. A reliable, inexpensive point-of-care (POC) Hgb test would enable cost-effective anemia screening and chronically anemic patients to self-monitor their disease. We present a rapid, standalone, and disposable POC anemia test that, via a single drop of blood, outputs color-based visual results that correlate with Hgb levels.

METHODS. We tested blood from 238 pediatric and adult patients with anemia of varying …

Aqueous Maté Extract Decreases The Viability Human Breast Cancer Through Apoptosis And Cancer Repression, Kenisha Nisbett, Amina Sadik

College of Osteopathic Medicine (TUN) Publications and Research

Ilex paraguariensis, also known as Yerba Maté, is a subtropical plant native to South America. In various South American cultures, the leaves of Yerba Maté tree are roasted to make a traditional herbal tea. Several studies have been conducted to elucidate the beneficial effects of this beverage. A recent study has shown that saponins isolated from Yerba Maté extract induce apoptosis in human colon cancer cells, while another study indicated that the consumption of Maté tea causes higher incidence of esophageal cancer. Our study looked into the effects Yerba Maté extract had on human breast cancer cells. The findings …

Effects Of Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury On The P-Glycoprotein Activity At The Liver Canalicular Membrane And Blood-Brain Barrier Determined By In Vivo Administration Of Rhodamine 123 In Rats, M. K. Miah, Imam H. Shaik, Ulrich Bickel, Reza Mehvar

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose To investigate the effects of normothermic hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury on the activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the liver and at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of rats using rhodamine 123 (RH-123) as an in vivo marker.

Methods Rats were subjected to 90 min of partial ischemia or sham surgery, followed by 12 or 24 h of reperfusion. Following intravenous injection, the concentrations of RH-123 in blood, bile, brain, and liver were used for pharmacokinetic calculations. The protein levels of P-gp and some other transporters in the liver and brain were also determined by Western blot analysis.

Results P-gp protein …

Quantitative Mass Spectrometric Investigations Of Protein Biomarkers: Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 And Human Osteopontin, Morse Faria

Theses and Dissertations

Mass spectrometry is being increasingly used in biomarker research mainly due to its ability to achieve high selectivity coupled with high sensitivity. This dissertation focuses on quantitative mass spectrometric investigations of two protein biomarkers i.e. serum thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) and human osteopontin (OPN).

First part of this research was focused on developing a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for measuring the activity of TK1 in serum by monitoring the conversion of a TK1 specific exogenous substrate, 3’-deoxy-3’-fluorothymidine (FLT), to its mono-phosphorylated form 3’-deoxy-3’-fluorothymidine monophosphate (FLT-MP). A method to quantify FLT-MP on LC-MS/MS was developed and …

Anesthesia For Cardiac Catheterization Procedures, A Hamid

Department of Anaesthesia

Anesthesiologist's involvement for the purpose of diagnostic and interventional procedures in cardiac catheterization laboratory has been evolving particularly since last two decades. Catheterization laboratory environment poses certain challenges for the anesthesiologist including unfamiliar remote location, exposure to radiation, limited help from colleagues and communication with cardiologists. Anesthesiologists working in catheterization laboratory are required to have adequate knowledge of the environment, personnel, fluoroscope, echocardiography and type of radio contrast dye during the procedure. Anyone who is exposed to radiation environment is expected to protect himself from the exposure and must also wear a dosimeter for cumulative exposure tracing.There is no ideal …

Correlation Of Ischemia-Modified Albumin With Sofa And Apache Ii Scores In Preoperative Patients With Colorectal Cancer, Masaaki Katoh, Kazuhiko Kotani, Alejandro Gugliucci, Hisanaga Horie, Russell Caccavello, Mamoru Takeuchi

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Osteopathic Medicine

Purpose. Critical illnesses are assessed according to the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II. Circulating ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is a biomarker generated under ischemic and oxidative conditions and may reflect disease severity in preoperative patients. This study investigated the correlations of IMA with SOFA and APACHE II scores in inpatients admitted for colorectal surgery. Methods.We examined 27 patients with advanced colorectal cancers (mean age 69 years, men/women = 15/12). Correlations between SOFA and APACHE II scores in addition to preoperative serum IMA and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were analyzed. Results …

Supporting Narrative Retells For People With Aphasia Using Augmentative And Alternative Communication: Photographs Or Line Drawings? Text Or No Text?, Julie Griffith, Aimee R. Dietz, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how the interface design of an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device influences the communication behaviors of people with aphasia during a narrative retell task.

Method: A case-series design was used. Four narratives were created on an AAC device with combinations of personally relevant (PR) photographs, line drawings (LDs), and text for each participant. The narrative retells were analyzed to describe the expressive modality units (EMUs) used, trouble sources experienced, and whether trouble sources were repaired. The researchers also explored the participants’ perceived helpfulness of the interface features.

Results: The participants …

Leukopenia Management In Thymoglobulin Treated Renal Transplant Recipients, Lynsey S. Biondi Md, Michael J. Moritz Md, Janelle Cyprich

Department of Surgery

No abstract provided.

The Efficacy And Safety Of The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Gail Tessler

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

The HPV virus is said to be the cause of many infections, warts, and cancers. In addition to the fact that the treatment for HPV is not always successful, not every individual knows that s/he is infected and is very likely to infect his or her partner, too. This is one factor that explains why 14 million people each year in America alone contract HPV and makes cervical cancer so threatening to many people worldwide. In light of this and the known dangers of cervical, anal, vaginal and penile cancers, the HPV vaccine was created to prevent an infection of …

Apoptotic Neurodegeneration In The Developing Human Brain: Possible Role Of General Anesthetics In Its Genesis, And Of L-Carnitine In Its Reversal, Yisroel Yitzchok Rosenfeld

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Recent studies suggest that general anesthetic (GA) agents administered to developing rats, through its mechanism as an NMDA antagonist or a GABAa mimetic, may damage developing neural cells by inducing a higher rate of programmed cell death (apoptosis). Similar heightened degeneration was also apparent in higher primates such as the monkey. This warrants strong concern, as every year thousands of pregnant women and children below 1 year of age undergo a surgical procedure in which GAs are used. A spike in neuroapoptosis may lead to long term cognitive deficiencies lingering into adulthood. Are humans vulnerable to these affects? Different pathways …

Stem Cells As A Cure For Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Chaya K. Hirsch

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease which affects approximately 30,000 Americans at any given time (alsa.org, 2010). The etiology of this terminal disease unfortunately remains an unsolved mystery and has therefore severely limited the ability to find a cure. The use of stem cells to regenerate neurons has been vastly studied and have produced very promising results. However, its practicality as a cure or treatment for neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS, is greatly compromised. Three different therapies involving stem cells were examined, Embryonic Stem Cells (ESC), induced pluripotent stem cells, (iPSC) and direct reprogramming of adult …

Biomarkers In Nsclc Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutations, Suzanne Freidman

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Lung Cancer is the most common global cause of cancer related deaths in men and women (Markus, Alain, 2013). As standard radiation and chemotherapy have proved ineffective, novel target therapies are in the midst of development. This review will analyze the success of the inhibitor drugs targeting the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) mutation, commonly found amongst Lung Cancer patients. Numerous studies and reviews are utilized to determine the cause of the 10% success rate currently exhibited for these drugs. The L858R and E746-A750 point mutations and deletions respectively, were found prevalent in responsive patients as well as clinical-pathological features …

Comparison Of Body Composition Measures In Older Adult Males, Cody Smith

Honors Projects

Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure created to assess population wide staistics of obesity and stratify health risk. However, there are large differences in health risk when comparing BMI with measures of body composition. BMI is not a measure of body composition. Body composition measures are used to distinguish between fat mass, fat-free mass. This percent body fat is more significantly correlated with health risk.

This study analyzed various body composition methodologies including waist circumference at the umbilicus and at the narrowest point of the abdomen, sagittal abdominal diameter, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and air displacement plethysmography. The study’s purpose …

Calibration Of Built-In Accelerometer Using A Commercially Available Smartphone, Jung-Min Lee, Youngwon Kim, Yi-Suk Kwon, Timothy R. Derrick, Gregory J. Welk

Research Presentations

Wearable trackers that detect sleep offer users a way to track their sleep quality and patterns without the use of expensive equipment. Few studies have tested the validity of these trackers on sleep measure. PURPOSE: To examine the validity of the Actigraph GT9X (AG), SenseWear Mini Armband (SW), Basis Peak (BP), Fitbit Charge HR (FB), Jawbone UP3 (JU), and Garmin Vivosmart (GV) for estimating sleep variables as compared with a sleep diary. METHODS: 78 healthy individuals participated in the study. Group 1 (n= 38) and wore the AG, SW, BP, and FB or Group 2 (n = 40) …